Synergy
Synergy '''is simply the result of interactions between two or more elements. In Injustice Mobile, there are two major elements: characters and gear. Furthermore, these two elements further expand into four major relationships where synergy can occur: '''character-to-character, character-to-gear, gear-to-gear, and character-to-character-to-gear-to-gear. The goal of synergy is to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Character-to-Character This is usually what people refer to when they think of synergy. They take different characters' passives and see which combinations provide the most impact. It generally falls under two sub-categories: give-and-take and give-and-give. Give-and-Take This occurs when one character offers something that another character can use. However, the receiving character does not contribute back. Consider the following: "If Lex Luthor/Krypto giver provides a 30% health increase to all teammates and Bane/Prime taker has a very low health stat, it might be a good idea to team them together." Lex's passive applies to all his teammates, whereas Bane's passive only applies to himself. Another example could be Superman/New 52 and Wonder Woman/New 52 (formerly Justice League). Wonder Woman's passive allows Superman to gain power faster. In addition, as a Justice League member, she also adds to his damage mitigation. In both cases, Wonder Woman contributes to Superman's passive, making her the giver. However, though Superman benefits from Wonder Woman's contributions, he has nothing specific to give to her, making him the taker. (Note: It's important to know that just because give-and-take synergy exists, it doesn't mean it's the ideal choice. In the first example, despite the existing synergy, it's probably better to pass on the pair up simply because Bane/Prime is an overall poor character.) Give-and-Give What some might consider "super synergy", this happens when all members of a team contribute to each other. Here's a good example: The Flash/Regime, Lex Luthor/Insurgency, and Green Lantern/Regime. The Flash's passive makes up for Lex Luthor's slow attack speed. Lex Luthor's passive makes up for The Flash's low health. Both benefit from Green Lantern's passive and Green Lantern, though not really hampered by anything, welcomes the extra speed and health offered by his teammates. The Red Son characters operate in this fashion when teamed with cards of different designations (except for Green Lantern and Batman) but takes it further when teamed with other Red Sons. Exceptions It is worth noting that character synergy can occur outside of the give-and-take and give-and-give environments. Consider the following characters: Sinestro/Antimatter and Harley Quinn/Arkham Knight. They both have passives that are uniquely their own. However, they do synergize well with each other. As long as Harley Quinn stays tagged out, there is a chance for her to ambush an opponent that tags into the match. This pairs wonderfully with Sinestro since he forces opponents to tag out whenever he uses his SP1. Neither of them lose or gain anything from each other but due to the mechanics of their passives, synergy exists. Gear-to-Gear This is generally broken into two groups: sets '''and '''non-sets. Gear Sets This is simple and straightforward. Gear Sets refer to the LexCorp Set, the Fourth World Set, and the League of Assassins Set. Simply put the individual set pieces can synergize with each other (LC Helmet Armor V2 and LC Chest Armor V2, FW Godly Helmet and FW Godly Chest Plate, LOA Adept Knives and LOA Adept Hood) but there are added bonuses for having either 2/3 or 3/3 of a certain set. (Note: Technically, the Companion Card is a set. However, it does not contain set properties that are found in the other sets.) Non-Gear Sets A Non-Gear set synergy are gears that work together to do not belong to the same set. A great example of this is the infamous SP1 setup, aka "The Deadly Trio", which includes the Cloak of Destiny, the LexCorp Gauntlets V2, and the League of Assassins Adept Knives. These gears work wonderfully together because 1 causes power gen increase, 2 cause stun on tag-in, 1 causes SP1 damage boost, 1 causes SP1 crit chance, 1 causes SP1 health regeneration, 1 causes huge SP1 area effect damage, 1 increases crit damage and 1 increases damage against stunned. This all results in an opponent being stunned when you tag-in, the SP1 ready thanks to increased power gen, you use the SP1, it has increased damage, it crits, and it deals increased damage because it crits, it deals 3X damage because the opponent is stunned and it deals a massive amount of damage to the whole enemy team. Another strong example is the Tantu Totem and The Master's Death Cart combination. When fully maxed, the Totem will grant one bar of power on tag-in and the Death Cart will have a 100% chance to deal unblockable tag-in damage. The unblockable damage from the Death Cart will also generate essentially one bar of power. This stacks with the one bar of power granted by the Totem on tag-in resulting in two bars of power from the get-go. Since lots of characters have powerful SP2's, this set-up can allow them to KO opponents and then have the power refunded back to them, courtesy of the Totem, to repeat same attack again and receive another power refund. Character-to-Gear This synergy occurs between characters and gear. Each character has his or her own Signature Gear. This means that the gears give a unique, albeit generic, trait to that particular type of character: unblockable chance on basic attacks, crit boost, area effect on sp1, area effect on sp2, etc. However, character-to-gear synergy goes beyond this. Though players can equip any gear to any character, specific characters, due to their passives can benefit from specific gears and gear sets. Take Doomsday/Containment, his passive allows him to resurrect three times in a match. By gearing him with at least the 2/3 effect of the Fourth World Set, he would have an additional resurrection. If given the set's full 3/3 effect, the health regeneration and health boost and damage reduction from the Chest Plate will complement Doomsday's low health stat, potentially making him a recurring nightmare. Another example is Batman/Flashpoint. He boasts the highest damage stat and can deal tremendous damage with his basic attacks that is further augmented by his Increased Crit Damage (formerly known as "Destructive Blows"), as mentioned in his passive. Equipping him with damage boosting gear, gear that grants critical chance to basic attacks, or crit boosting gear would allow Batman to fully maximize his basic attack damage. Lastly, there are a few gear that do lifedrain on combo ender: Gauntlets of Azrael, Overpowered 5-U-93-R, and League of Assassins Adept Blade. These gear synergize particularly well with characters who have multiple hits on their combo ender: Deathstroke/Flashpoint, Green Arrow/Rebirth, Jessica Cruz/Rebirth, The Arkham Knight/Arkham Knight, Batman/Flashpoint, and Harley Quinn/Arkham Knight, to name several. Character-to-Character-to-Gear-to-Gear This is a combination of the previous two synergies. It occurs when at least one character's passive complements another character and the effect multiplies due to strategic gear loadouts. Here's an example... *The Joker/Batman Ninja **Gear: Overpowered 5-U-93-R, The Master's Death Cart, Enchantress Companion Card EVOLVED *Deathstroke/Arkham Origins **Gear: Tantu Totem , Promethium Longsword , Cloak of Destiny *Hawkgirl/Prime **Gear: Gauntlets of Azrael, Astro-Harness, Fourth World Godly Chest Plate How to Evaluate Synergy Synergy can be evaluated at two levels. The first level is simple: there's either synergy or no synergy. If there's no synergy, leave it at that. However, if there is synergy, it generally falls under two categories: strong and weak. Weak Synergy Just because synergy exist doesn't mean that it's the best option. Here's an example, when Bane/Prime's health drops below 40%, his basic attacks will crit. This means, in theory, Bane will benefit from the Cloak of Destiny because it offer a boost to critical attacks. However, since Bane is an overall poor character and wouldn't necessarily benefit from the Cloak's other two effects, this synergy wouldn't be worth it as the Cloak can be better used by other stronger characters. Strong Synergy Category:Terminology